Never Let A Good Crisis Go To Waste

By Karen Miller, Bradbury Miller Associates

2020-2021 has been a time of transition and uncertainty for everyone on the planet, it seems. Everyone has had to adapt, change, and do things differently. It hasn’t been easy. I have deeply appreciated and admired all the hard work that our library colleagues have put into adapting library services and seeking new opportunities to meet community needs to accommodate life during a pandemic. Certainly, there have been numerous success stories of libraries finding unique, creative and helpful ways to provide support to the communities they serve. We are proud and thankful that you have been keeping your patrons and each other safe while still working tirelessly- demonstrating just how valuable libraries truly are during a time of crisis while also demonstrating the value and commitment of library staff.

It has been a time of transition for Bradbury Miller Associates, as well. Adapting to working solely with our clients online has been a big change – and we are extremely grateful to the many board members and search committee members who have also learned and adapted with us as we all worked together without ever meeting in person. We have learned so much this past year and have already decided that our work is permanently changed by this experience. Despite the trepidation of making big changes to the way we do work, it was also exhilarating to discover we could adapt and even thrive during these difficult and unpredictable times. Best of all, we have had the good fortune to expand our team to add two new team members – Beth Barker and Brian Hare. We are very excited and feel fortunate to add the skills and strengths of our two new team members to the work we are doing, and hope that adding to our team will give us the ability to do even more to contribute to the profession. We have a new look and a new website—and we have big plans to add more content that we hope will benefit our clients and the library profession in the future.

A phrase I have heard frequently in the past several months is, “never let a good crisis go to waste.” We have witnessed our library colleagues do great work and overcome huge obstacles during the health crisis this past year and we commend you for all you have done to capitalize on what has been an incredibly stressful and difficult year. We too have attempted to make the most of the ‘lemons’ of 2020 and hope to provide delicious ‘lemonade’ to our clients and candidates going forward.